The Dercum Center presents two events this weekend

<b>Special to the Daily</b>The Dercum Center presents two events this weekend - an 'American Journey' through art and music tonight at CMC, and a performance by Carpe Diem String Quartet Sunday in Dillon. Clockwise from top: Carpe Diem String Quartet, Jayme Stone, Stephen Ackert, National Gallery of Art.

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Creative cultural contributions are the Dercum Center's specialty, and this weekend the group presents two nights of culturally enriching experiences. Tonight, as part of a first-time collaboration with Colorado Mountain College, National Gallery of Art music director Stephen Ackert will present on American art, accompanied by live music. Then on Sunday, Carpe Diem String Quartet will perform a chamber music concert at Dillon Community Church.

Tonight's presentation, entitled "American Journey," features a slideshow of paintings and portraits by American artists from the National Gallery's collection, narrated by Ackert. Accompanying him is Carpe Diem String Quartet, which will perform live music from American composers joined by Jayme Stone on banjo.Dercum Center artistic director Charles Wetherbee and Ackert came up with the idea after Carpe Diem performed a special piece - written by composer and violist Korine Fujiwara - at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. as part of the Cherry Blossom Festival. "Mr. Ackert will bring exclusive photos of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and Carpe Diem, together with Jayme Stone, have prepared music that directly relates to the history, context and the scenes and individuals depicted within these paintings," Wetherbee said."Examining how both art and music changed through American history is fascinating," Dercum Center manager Karina Wetherbee said, promising "an engaging journey through the history of America." The presentation will take place at the Finkel Auditorium at CMC Breck tonight as part of the college's Peak to Pique speaker series.

On Sunday, Carpe Diem String Quartet will perform a chamber music concert, "Four Seasons in Two Hemispheres," at Dillon Community Church, followed by a short reception.The program includes select movements from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla's "Four Seasons of Buenos Aires," woven together to give listeners the experience of two cultures on a related topic. "This work is almost never heard in this chamber version," Chas Wetherbee said of the Vivaldi piece. "I hope that the audience will be charged up by this intimate and transparent version of a familiar work, rendered with such detail and clarity in Carpe Diem's special presentation." He described the Piazzolla as "sizzling tangos that redefine what we think of musically with the seasons.""The two sets of four seasons are often performed as eight seasons, with orchestra," Karina Wetherbee said. "This will be sort of a sampler, with all four seasons of the year represented, but shared between the two composers." Beethoven rounds out Sunday's program at Dillon Community Church.